3.52 miles - down Hemlock March 8, 2008 8:30 am, 37 degrees, misty |
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Hirsch, Schafer win after 2-week snow delay
After snow and threats of 
snow
forced cancellations two weeks in a row, we finally got to return to the
Hurlburt Recreation Area for our Saturday morning sojourns. There was no
threat of snow, but rain threatened. We got lucky. It rained all
night, gave us a break in the morning, and then rained all afternoon. The
race itself was judged "misty."
John Hirsch took off at the start and opened up a quick lead, which he never relinquished. Chris Deming and Matt Cappiello dueled down the muddy Hemlock road and ended up in second and third place, respectively.
Among the women, Mary Shafer repeated as the winner. She was running as high as 9th place around the mile mark, when her friend Gravity was helping her cruise along. Gravity is a fickle friend, though, and when that friend abandoned her, she ended up 17th, but still enjoyed a three minute gap on the second woman, Rapid Lynn Zuback.
Three four-legged critters convinced their exercise partners to bring them to their second consecutive race, as they don't have current driver's licenses. Rosie Morehouse, Dudley Ong and Mia Myhill showed us how it's done with pep and panache.
People
Dan Lynch
is already making a run for Most Improved Runner this year. Last year, he
beat the Fossil about three times, but two
of those were decisive races at the end of the season, and this year he's making
poor Fossil look like a piker. Fossil
may seek revenge in other venues.
In the interests of safety, we'd like to mention safe clothing. Remember, it is important to dress so that we are visible to traffic and to other runners. We have two well dressed runners and one counterexample pictured at the right.
The runner in the center, who happens to be this week's winner among the women, Mary Shafer, is dressed in typically bright yellow-vest style running clothes. These show up well to drivers, but there is some risk that they might confuse the runner with a crossing guard or a construction worker. She knows, though, to smile and wave at the drivers (with all five fingers), so she's quite safe.
The unidentified runner on the right, on the other hand, is dressed in what resembles camouflage. This color motif blends very well with the background and is good for sneaking up on deer or snipers, but it may be almost invisible to drivers. This runner, though probably safe from both deer and snipers, runs the risk of being accidentally hit by inattentive drivers.
The runner on the far left clearly has a keen sense of running fashion. In his bright yellow shirt, fashionable yellow shirt (from the 2002 Boston Marathon) and colorful running tights from RunningFunky.com, every driver will be able to see him easily, and no driver is likely to hit him, except on purpose, and that only out of jealousy.
Contact WebGuy if you see any mistakes.
Safety
Safety is important. That's why Scott Benjamin gives us the safety warning every month. That's also why we encourage runners to dress in bright colors so that drivers can see us better. (See above)
Be safe. Be polite to the drivers. Remember, if a car hits you, it probably won't damage the car much at all.
Always choose a safe line.
Try to stay on the same side of the road, usually facing traffic.
In general, follow the people in front of you. You can see them better than they can see you.
Call traffic warnings to other runners. "Car up!" or "Car back!" Even if it's a truck.
Dress brightly. Cars see bright orange, blue and red better than they see gray. Give them a chance to miss us.
Fossil has three rules of running:
Be safe
Have fun
It's more fun if you run well
Be nice to the drivers. For the most part, they like us, and they are proud to have us running in Roxbury. Smile, and, if you wave, be sure you use all five fingers.
This week's pictures
Up top we have the pictures of three runners who did this week's race with no shoes on. That's a brave thing for people to be doing in March, but these runners seem none the worse for wear. From left to right, they are Dudley Ong, Mia Myhill and Rosie Morehouse. Rosie finished fourth in this week's race.
Then we have a picture that compares safe and less-safe running atire.
Below that we have the top men's points finishers in the 2007 Prestigious Roxbury Points Race, and a little farther down, the women.
Along side the results we
have Brian
Vanderheiden and Torpedo Ruospo
battling the elements at Boston this year. Then there's a shot of
Mark Zerbe in his red vest. Then we
have Jon Binzen worrying about the fog in
front of the pavillion. Near the bottom of the column,
a shot of Fast Mario Hasz and his wife Diane, the Belle of the Finish
Line.
Down at the bottom, we have Fossil meeting a dragon in Germany. He was back in Germany recently, and the dragon is still there and as healthy as ever.
The Roxbury Races are now listed on the Internet both on RunningInTheUSA and on HiTekRacing.com. For information contact Bob Lewis at bwlnm (at) aol (dot) com, or at 203 240 0162.
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Alternate races
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Current points standings
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Over all |
Women |
Other |
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Created March 8, 2007
Corrections March 15, 2007
This is one of the dragons in the fountain outside the 500-year old church in Halle, a rural city in the old East Germany.
